ORGANIC VIEW

A publication of the Organic Consumers Association

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE - SPRING 2003

SOS 2003: SAFEGUARD ORGANIC STANDARDS

Five years ago, the Organic Consumers Association
(OCA) emerged out of a fiery national grassroots campaign called SOS:
Save Organic Standards. The USDA, cheered on by Monsanto and agribusiness
interests, tried and failed to degrade organic standards by proposing
federal regulations that would have allowed genetic engineering, irradiation,
the use of toxic sewage sludge, intensive confinement of farm animals,
animal cannibalism, pesticides, and other conventional agribusiness
practices under the organic label.

USDA bureaucrats and members of Congress were bombarded
with over 300,000 irate letters, reinforced by thousands of phone calls,
petitions, emails, and faxes. The USDA was forced to back off and implement
national standards in 2002 that maintained the integrity of traditional
organic farming and production practices. Although the USDA Organic
label fails to completely embody the organic ideal, current standards
and labels do help consumers identify and purchase products which are
qualitatively safer and better than conventional "industrial" products
(see Is USDA Organic Grade B Organic? -Organic View, Spring
02: www.organicconsumers.org/organic/gradeB092902.cfm).

Unfortunately, the Bush administration USDA, prompted
by special interests, seems to have decided that strict organic standards
are an impediment to maximizing corporate profits. So we are threatened
again with a number of policies that could undermine the integrity
of the organic label.

In the last 12 months, the USDA National Organic
Program (NOP) has:

GIVEN certification licenses to over 70 new
organic certifiers, some of whom appear to be nothing more than front
groups for industrial agriculture and factory farms. Asked for information
on whom exactly the USDA is accrediting as certifiers, the NOP has
stonewalled, forcing legal action by OCA's ally, the Center for Food
Safety. www.organicconsumers.org/Organic/USDAlegal101602.cfm

OVERRIDDEN the decision of a long-standing
and respected organic certifier in Massachusetts, and certified a
poultry farm as organic, even though the animals have no access to
the outdoors, as stipulated under national organic standards. www.organicconsumers.org/
organic/030403_organic.cfm

STOOD BY while a Republican Congressman from
Georgia, Nathan Deal, inserted a rider into the national Omnibus
Appropriations bill that would allow animal products to be labeled
as "USDA Organic," even if the animals were not fed 100%
organic feed as stipulated by US national standards. www.organicconsumers.org/
organic/030403_organic.cfm

BACKED OFF on a May 2002 statement that strict
NOP standards for organic food would also apply to anything labeled "organic" (including
body care products) thereby creating the preconditions for consumer
fraud and misuse of the term "organic".

Fortunately, the organic community is fighting
back to preserve organic standards. The Center for Food Safety has
filed a legal petition challenging the accreditation of "unknown" certifiers
by the USDA without organic community peer-group review, as required
by law. And after Republican Nathan Deal's sneak attack on the 100%
organic animal feed rule, Congress received thousands of letters and
phone calls, generated by the OCA and the National Campaign for Sustainable
Agriculture. Scores of articles and editorials appeared in the press,
including the New York Times, calling for a repeal of the
exemption. General Mills and Tyson Foods also attacked the measure,
no doubt sensing a threat to the profitability of their organic products.
After weeks of controversy, even the head of the USDA, Ann Veneman,
denounced the measure. Finally, Rep. Deal himself backed down. As this
newsletter goes to press, the Organic Restoration Act, after being
passed by both the House and the Senate, has been sent to the White
House for signing.

Thanks to everyone who called, faxed and emailed
their senators and representatives over the last two months. The overwhelming
bi-partisan support this issue received is evidence that our voices
were heard in Washington. The fight to preserve Organic Standards is
not over, however. On April 12, another sneak attack on Organics was
launched by Alaska's two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski and Ted
Stevens, which would require the USDA to devise a plan to certify wild-caught
fish and shellfish as organic.

Other areas where the national standards are threatened
include fraudulent labeling practices for "organic" body
care products (see the "Coming Clean" article in this issue)
and the USDA's proposal to allow "List 3" toxic inerts in
organic farming. As the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) Secretary,
Jim Riddle, warned the USDA, "When consumers learn that phenols,
benzene, naphthalene, ureas, chromium complexes, piperonyl butoxide,
glutamic acid, acetone, chlorotoluene, and other such substances could
be allowed in organic agriculture, there will be a predictable and
understandable consumer backlash which could seriously damage the entire
organic community."

If you are interested in keeping updated on these
and future efforts to preserve organic standards, check the daily news
on our website: www.organicconsumers.org Consider
signing up online in our volunteer database and make sure you check "Legislation" as
being one of your interests at: www.organicconsumers.org/campaign.cfm

COMING CLEAN: ORGANIC BODY CARE CAMPAIGN

Organic Consumers Association's new campaign, Coming
Clean, is working to have organic body care products covered under
the same rigorous labeling and production standards that are now in
place for organic foods.

Scientists and medical practitioners warn of the
impact of substances absorbed through the skin-whether it's soap, shampoo,
cosmetics, suntan oil, or lotions for babies and children. This process
of direct absorption through the skin and capillaries into the body
is particularly important, because it completely bypasses the kidneys
and liver, which normally filter out toxins. The ability of skin to
serve as a direct and unfiltered "gateway" into the bloodstream
is exactly why nicotine patches and other medicinal surfactants are
so effective.

Consumers who are already seeking out organic food
also want organic body care products. Body care companies, capitalizing
on this consumer concern, have started labeling some of their products "organic," too,
but it is not always clear what that means.

Many of the leading brand name products in the
body care and cosmetics marketplace currently labeled "organic" are
composed mostly of "organic" perfumed water, often
containing as little as 5% organic ingredients other than these waters.
In addition, a number of these products contain petroleum-based ingredients
which can contain trace toxic contaminants.

Compounding the problem, various companies and
interests in the "natural" products industry are pressuring
a task force of the Organic Trade Association (OTA) to formulate proposed
federal organic standards for body care products that could seriously
undermine the integrity of the organic label. These compromised standards,
if enacted, would allow companies to simply add "organic" perfumed
water to the same synthetic cleansers, conditioners, and preservatives
found in mainstream products. If the "organic water" is 70%
of the content, the product could then legally be labeled "70%
organic."

In response to this outrage, OCA launched its Coming
Clean campaign at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, CA in
March, 2003.

The OCA believes that the only real solutions to
this problem involve public education, marketplace pressure, and network
building-as well as possible litigation and legislative action. Either
we must convince the Organic Trade Association (OTA) and the US Department
of Agriculture National Organic Program (NOP) to resist pressure from "natural" companies
attempting to water down organic standards, or the organic community
will have to develop and popularize an appropriate third-party certified "Eco-Label" which
meets the traditional standards of organic integrity.

We must begin to educate ourselves to identify
and avoid problematic and potentially hazardous products and ingredients
already sold in the marketplace. We should also make certain that Fair
Trade practices, validated either by third-party organic or Fair Trade
certifiers, permeate the entire chain of production and marketing of
body care products labeled as organic. For further information on OCA's
Coming Clean campaign, visit organicconsumers.org/bodycare/index.htm.
If you would like to get involved in the Coming Clean campaign please
contact the OCA national office.

DON'T WATER DOWN ORGANIC STANDARDS FOR BODY CARE!

THE PROBLEM

A number of body care product companies are counting
non-agricultural water as organic, to greenwash their products and
make organic label claims, even though their formulations are largely
composed of the synthetic cleansers, conditioners and preservatives
found in mainstream products. This fraud is destroying the integrity
of the organic label.

FLORAL WATER

Floral waters (or hydrosols) are the water by-product
of essential oil steam distillation and are basically a complicated
way of making tea. Companies making body care products based on synthetic
surfactants (detergents or wetting agents) front-load their ingredient
list with floral waters and water extracts/infusions. The names of
the synthetic surfactants that actually make up the product are buried
further down the list. These waters are claimed to be key functional
organic components but are, in the context of the whole product, inconsequential.

CORE INGREDIENTS

The core ingredients in these products often include
one or more of the following:

Olefin Sulfonate is a surfactant, derived entirely
from petroleum, and has no place in an organic product.

Cocoamidopropyl Betaine uses a petroleum intermediate
in building the surfactant.

THE SOLUTION

Organic Consumers Association believes that body
care ingredients and products should only be labeled organic if:

Certified organic agricultural feed-stocks
(raw materials) are used exclusively, rather than petroleum or conventional
vegetable feed-stocks, in the manufacture of key ingredients.

The manufacture of these ingredients is reasonably
simple and ecological.

The toxicity of each ingredient is minimal.

Non-agricultural water is not counted as contributing
to organic content. (Agricultural water is the naturally occurring
water in a plant.)

70% ORGANIC?

Even though organic floral water/hydrosol is over
99% non-agricultural water, this water is counted as "organic".
This practice drastically inflates the weight of organic ingredients,
to make the claim "70% Certified Organic Ingredients." However,
organic regulations stipulate that only the non-water weight of a product
is counted when determining organic content. A soup company cannot
replace regular water in a conventional vegetable soup product with "organic
rosemary water" and then claim the soup is "70% Organic" without
organically sourcing any of the vegetable ingredients.

A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

The warmest of spring greetings from the Organic
Consumers Association. Now 500,000 strong, OCA's national network is
growing by leaps and bounds. As we go to press, it's hard to focus
on anything other than the war in Iraq and its predictably disastrous
aftermath. The only bright side to this dark period in human history
is that more and more people seem to be waking up and realizing that
we can't go on living this way. In this time of crisis, we at the OCA
pledge that we will redouble our efforts to build a better world, through
public education, marketplace pressure, and political action.

The good news is that more and more people across
the US-and the world-are turning to healthier and more ecologically
and ethically responsible lifestyles. Organic and sustainable agriculture
practices are sweeping the globe. At current rates of growth, most
food sold at the grocery store level in the US, Canada, and Europe
will be organic by 2020. Organic clothing, body care, and other products
are also gaining momentum. Ecological medicine and holistic healing
practices are being embraced by millions of people. As global awareness
spreads, companies promoting Frankenfoods and crops, like Monsanto,
or junk food, like McDonald's, are losing ground. Companies trying
to greenwash their exploitation of farm workers or garment workers,
like Starbucks or Nike, are coming under increasing scrutiny. Hazardous
technologies like industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, and
nuclear energy are being questioned as never before, along with climate-disrupting
energy and transportation policies. And of course, war, so-called free
trade, and out-of-control corporate globalization, are under increasing
fire.

The bad news is that the road to an organic, peaceful,
and sustainable future is filled with formidable roadblocks, both political
and economic, which extend all the way from Main Street and our local
city councils to the White House, the global marketplace and the World
Trade Organization. Many people have become discouraged, not even bothering
to vote, either with their consumer dollars or their ballots. One of
our primary tasks therefore, is not just to criticize what's obviously
wrong with the status quo, but to sow the seeds of hope-to identify
and support the marketplace and political alternatives which already
exist, or which we can help to create with our friends, families, and
neighbors.

In this issue of Organic View we report
on some of the bad news, like the current attempts to degrade organic
standards, but also the good news, including OCA's current campaigns
and projects. To find out more, you can read our online newsletters, BioDemocracy
News and Organic Bytes, or tune into our comprehensive
website www.organicconsumers.org which
is updated daily. But beyond just reading about OCA's current work,
and voting for an organic future with your consumer dollars, please
vote with your time and your pocket book today for the OCA. We need
your volunteer energy and your financial contributions-now more than
ever. Please support us! -Ronnie Cummins

JOIN AN OCA DELEGATION TO THE SEPTEMBER WTO PROTESTS
IN MEXICO

Join Ronnie Cummins and other OCA staff on an escorted
delegation to the historic teach-ins and protests against the World
Trade Organization (WTO) in Cancun, Mexico, September 7-14, 2003. Over
150,000 concerned citizens from North and South America, Europe, and
Asia are expected to converge on Cancun, including leading farm, food,
Fair Trade, and anti-GE activists, to attend a wide range of workshops,
forums, and cultural events. Following up on the theme of the World
Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, "Another World is Possible," the
emphasis in Cancun will be on presenting alternatives to corporate
globalization and bringing together grassroots activists from around
the world.

Organizers emphasize that public events will be
strictly non-violent, and that any civil disobedience protests will
be organized separately from the teach-ins and educational workshops.
Trade analysts predict that the outcome of the WTO Ministerial in Cancun
will largely determine the success of such US government-backed corporate
globalization schemes as genetic engineering, water privatization,
investment and social services privatization, and patenting of drugs
and life forms. In the wake of the unpopular war in Iraq, the Bush
administration will likely find itself increasingly isolated. As Simon
Harris of the OCA puts it, "Cancun may very well mark the beginning
of the end of the WTO."

In 1999, the OCA helped organize the historic protests
and teach-ins against the WTO in Seattle. The "Battle of Seattle," as
it came to be known, represented the coming of age of the global grassroots
in its attempt to stop the headlong rush of corporate globalization
and unsustainable technologies such as genetic engineering.

The OCA delegation, limited to 100 people, will
include experts on genetic engineering and organic agriculture such
as Ronnie Cummins, OCA National Director; Dr. Michael Hansen, from
the Consumers Union; Laura Miller and John Stauber, publishers of PR
Watch, a leading source of information on corporate power and
propaganda; and Ryan Zinn, OCA's Chiapas-based biodiversity specialist.
These experts, and others, including Mexican activist leaders, will
provide in-depth presentations and workshops for delegation participants.

During the week of teach-ins and protests, September
7-14, the OCA delegation will be housed in comfortable oceanfront accommodations
on the scenic Caribbean island of Isla Mujeres, a twenty minute ferry
ride from the city of Cancun. Costs for a shared double room, meals,
seminars, and transport to and from the teach-ins and activities will
be $850 (airfare not included). Private rooms are available for an
additional $200. To reserve your space on the delegation, send a $400
deposit to the Organic Consumers Association, 6101 Cliff Estate Road,
Little Marais, MN 55614 or call the OCA office at 218-226-4164. E-mail: mexicotrip@organicconsumers.org

OCA'S NEW WATER PROJECT

In response to a request from the United Nations,
Craig Minowa of the Organic Consumers Association delivered a research
report on water privatization and diversion to the UN Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on March 26, 2003. OCA and its
allies are gearing up for a massive international public information
and policy campaign to resist the corporate take-over of global water
resources.

Water industry profits now amount to nearly half
of those found in the oil sector. These profits come at the expense
of over a billion people who lack access to safe drinking water. The
UN estimates that as much as two-thirds of the world's population will
face water shortages within the next 25 years. If water is privatized,
this scarcity and demand translates into explosive profit potential
for private industry.

Although proponents of privatization claim it's
the best method for insuring a well-maintained water treatment infrastructure,
many of the corporations selling fresh water for profit are the same
industries that contaminated the water in the first place. For example,
Monsanto has made immense profits by introducing DDT, Agent Orange
and its portfolio of other pesticides to the world's food and fresh
water supply, and is now doubling those profits by offering to clean
its pollutants out of the water and sell it back to the people in bottled
form.

The horror stories of water privatization are becoming
all too common. The California based Bechtel Corporation took ownership
of Bolivia's water, drastically raised prices, and made it illegal
to catch rain water without a permit. In Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa,
more than 100,000 people became ill from cholera after their water
was shut off for non-payment.

The OCA will be working to educate and mobilize
consumers on these issues and will be working closely with the United
Nations in the coming year in an effort to create international policy
that guarantees that water remains a common good and not a private
commodity.

OCA CAMPAIGNS

Starbucks & Fair Trade

The OCA stepped up its public education and marketplace
pressure campaign against Starbucks over the past six months, demanding
that the company remove GE ingredients such as rBGH from their beverages
and foods, and move beyond token measures to offer and seriously promote
organic and Fair Trade coffee and chocolate.

In November 2002, the OCA helped build support
for a ballot measure in Berkeley, CA that would have required Starbucks
and other public coffeehouses to serve Fair Trade or organic coffee.
Although the measure lost, the OCA gained valuable experience that
will help us pass similar ballot measures in other cities.

On March 25, 2003, the OCA held a protest and press
conference at Starbucks' annual shareholders meeting in Seattle. While
shareholders inside the meeting offered up a resolution to label or
remove GMOs (genetically modified organisms) from Starbucks products,
OCA activists outside picketed and leafleted shareholders. After two
years of intense campaigning Starbucks has only moved half-way towards
meeting OCA's demands. Because of this, OCA's Frankenbucks campaign
will continue. For an in-depth look at the campaign, and Fair Trade
issues in general, see the Starbucks section of the OCA website: www.organicconsumers.org/starbucks/

Clothes for a Change

Due to the war, the OCA has delayed the formal
launch of its Clothes for a Change campaign until fall 2003. The campaign
will pressure leading clothing companies such as Gap, Levi's, Ralph
Lauren, and Nike to remove all GE cotton from their brand name clothing;
to start blending organic and transition-to-organic cotton and fibers
into their clothing; and to guarantee through independent third party
certification that they are not using sweatshop labor. The campaign
will also promote socially and environmentally responsible products
already on the market, and pass legislation at the city and state levels
mandating that government garment contracts ban sweatshop labor and
give preference to companies utilizing sustainable and organic fabrics.
To get involved, email chris@organicconsumers.org

Organic Bytes is a shorter
newsletter containing summaries of some of the most interesting and
important recent news stories from our website, along with fun facts,
quotations, and amusing graphics. For a free subscription, visit organicconsumers.org/organicbytes.htm.
Current & past issues are available there for your use, copyright
free!